Floor rack for refrigerator cars



April 12, 1938. v. E. SISSON 2,113,863 H FLOOR RACK FOR REFRIGERATORCARS I Filed Dec. 1, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 12, 1938 PATENTOFFICE FLOOR RACK FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS Vinton' E. Sisson, Winnetka,

111., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company,a corporation of Delaware Application December 1, 1936, Serial No.113,680

'6 Claims. (Cl. 105-375) The invention relates to insulated railwayrefrigerator cars used to transport perishable commodities, such asvegetables, fruits, berries, meats, eggs, frozen fish, etc., and tomaintain such 6 commodities while in transit within a predeterminedrange of temperature, thus necessitating the use of a cooling means inthe summer and a heating meansin the winter. It has been found thatperishable commodities which have not been allowed to get too cold(freeze) or too hot (bake) have a high market value because they have alonger storage life.

The invention relates specifically to floor racks for such refrigeratorcars which comprise a foraminous or perforated floor, arranged tosupport the lading in the car in spaced relation to the insulated floorof the car so that air, after it has been cooled by a refrigerant, orheated by a heater, may pass under the lading and through the foraminousfloor and up through or between the lading.

Spaced apart wooden slats supported by wooden stringers have been usedfor this purpose, but such construction is objectionable because itbecomes" insanitary, retains odors, becomes water sogged and heavy, andis expensive to maintain.

An object of the invention is to provide a floor rack comprising aforaminous floor supported by stringers which is very light in weightfor its strength; has a large total area of apertures in the foraminousfloor for the passage of circulating air; offers the minimwn resistanceto the air moving in a horizontal direction under the foraminous floor;is economical to make and install or remove from the car; is cheap tomaintain; is sanitary and will provide a substantially smooth surfacefor walking upon and rolling trucks thereupon.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a typical unit of my floor rack.

' Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of Fig. 1.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a modified construction.

Fig. 6 shows my improved foraminous floor with an improved stringer.

Fig. 7 shows a fragmentary longitudinal section through a refrigeratorcar provided with my floor rack.

Fig. 8 shows a cross section through Fig. 7.

The floor rack comprises a foraminous floor supported by spaced apartspringers to provide an air space between the foraminous floor and theregular floor of the car. I v

The foraminous floor comprises a metallic plate 5 formed with alternateupper (2) and lower (3) portions substantially the same widths spacedapart in parallel planes connected by webs 4, which constructionproduces a series of very strong beams for the amount of material used,as the compression member 3 is equal in strength 5 to the tension member2.

The upper portions arepreferably curved 6 upwardly to form archesbetween the adjacent webs l and also to drain water into the valleysbetween the webs. The lower portions 8 are pref- 1o er-ably curveddownwardly to form gutters to direct the water into the apertures. Fig.5 shows a modified construction wherein the upper and lower portions areformed on a series of straight lines instead of curves. 15

The upper portions are provided with apertures l0 alternately disposedwith apertures II in the lower portions to allow the air-to rise fromthe space below the foraminous floor up through or between the lading.If the apertures In in the upper portions were in alignment with theapertures in the lower portions II the structure, as a series ofparallel beams, would be materially weakened, therefore, I arrange theapertures ID in the upper portion to alternate with the aper- 25 tures Hin the lower portion, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby obtaining a strongerstructure.

The stringers l2 engage foraminous floors between the apertures l0--l l,as shown in Fig. 1, so as not to close any of the apertures and there-30 by interfere with the free circulation of air.

The stringers are also provided with a plurality of apertures l3 toallow free circulation of air below the foraminous floor, but theportion of the stringers below the webs 4-4 are imperforate, or withoutopenings, so that, for instance, the portion of the stringer l4 betweenthe apertures l3 and I3 forms a column to support the web 4.

'(See Fig. 3.)

. wall F therebetween.

A refrigerant is supported by the grates J in 50 the refrigerant chamberB in spaced relation to the floor of the car and the basket (or netting)K spaces the refrigerant from the end wall L and bulkhead A to providethe flues M. The apertured floor rack N supports the lading 0 so as theflues M. A refrigerant, such as ice, induces a convection air currentfrom the flues M, through the space P and the apertures in the floorrack N, and as the air is warmed by the lading 0, it rises and passesthrough the bulkhead upper opening D and thence through the fluesM, andbeing cooled by the refrigerant, repeats the convection cycle.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, asit,is obvious that'various modifications thereof, within the scope ofthe claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, afloor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a spacebetween the lading and the floor of the car communieating with said fluecomprising a floor supported by spaced stringers, said floor formed of ametallic plate comprising alternate upper and lower portions ofsubstantially the same width in spaced apart parallel planes connectedby webs, said upper portions provided with apertures alternating withapertures in the lower portion and means to induce an air current fromsaid flue through said space and said aperture.

2. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, afloor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a spacebetween the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said fluecomprising a floor supported by spaced stringers, said. floor formed ofa metallic plate comprising alternate upper and lower portions ofsubstantially the same width in spaced apart parallel planesconnected bywebs, said upper portions provided with apertures alternating withapertures in the lower portion and means to induce an air current fromsaid flue through said space and said aperture, said stringers engagingsaid floor between the apertures.

3. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, afloor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a spacebetween spaced stringers, said floor formed of a metallic platecomprising alternate upper and lower por- .to provide the space P whichcommunicates with tions connected by webs spaced substantiallyequi-distant apart, said upper portions being curved upwardly to formarches between the webs and said lower portions being curved. downwardlyto form gutters between the webs, said upper portions provided withapertures alternating with apertures in the lower portion and means toinduce an air current from said flue through said space and saidaperture.

4. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, afloor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a spacebetween the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said fluecomprising a floor supported by spaced stringers, said floor formed of ametallic plate comprising alternate upper and lower portions connectedby webs, said upper portions being curved upwardly to form archesbetween the webs and said lower portions being curved downwardly to formgutters between the webs, said upper and lower portions having aperturesfor air circulation from said flue through said space.

5. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, afloor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a spacebetween the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said fluecomprising a floor supported by spaced stringers having horizontalopenings therein, said floor formed of a metallic plate com prisingalternate upper and lower portions of substantially the same width inspaced apart parallel planes connected by webs, said upper and lowerportions having apertures for air circulation and means to induce an aircurrent from said flue through said space and said aperture, theportions of said stringers below said webs being without openings.

6. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, afloor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a spacebetween the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said fluecomprising a floor supported by spaced stringers having horizontalopenings therein, said floor formed ofa metallic plate comprisingalternate upper and lower portions ofsubstantially the same width inspaced apart parallel planes connected by webs, said upper portionsprovided with apertures alternating with apertures in the lower portion,the portions of said stringers below said webs being without openings.

VINTON E. SISSON.

